Can't Escape The Past
by rosielynnemae1996
Summary: Jack is the new kid for his senior year, and he's hiding a huge secret. Can the Guardians save Jack from the danger ahead or will Jack end up just like his father? (Sucky summary, but please read!) High School AU!
1. Chapter 1

I had started a story similar to this on an old account, but it was somehow deleted and then my computer broke down, so I lost the entire story. So here I am, re-writing it, and changing some things. Hope you like!

* * *

Jackson Nathaniel Frost, Jack for short, was different, to say the least. His father had been an albino, while his mother had normal pigment. It caused Jack to become part albino, with snow white hair and very pale skin. His eyes, however, we the radiant sky blue eyes his mother had.

Jack's mother's name was Annabelle Madeline Bennett. Bennett was her married name; she had married to Jack's stepfather, Jeremiah Marcus Bennett. Jeremiah had been more of a dad to Jack than Jack's biological father ever was.

The couple had two children, Jamie Oscar Bennett and Sophie Lynn Bennett. Jack was 17; Jamie was 10; Sophie was 5.

"Jackson!" Annabelle hollered up the stairs. "Hurry up! I'm not going to wait forever, and your food's going to get cold!"

"Coming, Mom!" Jack hollered back, pulling on his sneakers.

Today was his first day of senior year at a completely new high school. He didn't want to be late, but he'd spent just a little extra time on his hair this morning and brushing his teeth. He wanted to make a good first impression. He'd been a troublemaker by nature at his old school, and he wanted to end his high school career with a good mark.

Jack looked his outfit over one more time in the mirror. Simple, black sneakers, his favorite brown pants, and his signature navy blue hoodie. He smiled, pleased with himself.

Jack bound the stairs, excited for the day ahead.

* * *

The room was still, and dark. The only light was the streams slipping through the curtains. The only sound that could be heard was light snoring. Suddenly, the alarm clock went out, clouding playing a Christmas Carol. The snoring stopped, a groan replacing it.

Nicholas St. North, just called North by his friends, sat up in his bed and shut the alarm clock off. He rubbed his eyes before his brain began to wake up. He opened his blue eyes and smiled.

Jumping out of bed, North drew back the curtains and gave a hearty laugh as light flooded into the room. He grabbed a Christmas themed shirt, red sneakers, and denim pants, throwing them on. North quickly brushed through his dyed white hair. Grabbing his keys, North grabbed his Russian cap before bounding down the stairs.

"Now, now, young man!" a female, Russian voice hollered. "You come eat breakfast! Make you big and strong!"

"I already am big and strong, mother," North replied with his own Russian voice. "That is why I am leader of the Guardians."

North's mother, Olivia Sally North, only rolled her eyes and smiled before setting two plates of pancakes down. "Eat up, both of you."

"Yes, dear."

North looked to see his father, Kris St. North, set down his newspaper and reach for the syrup. North sat down across from his father and smiled.

"Good morning, Dad," North greeted him.

"Morning, son," Kris replied. "First day of senior year, yes? Is exciting."

"Make us proud," Olivia told her son.

"Of course, Mom," North smiled.

* * *

All was quiet in the extremely bright room. If the girl occupying the bed was awake, she would've heard the anxious giggles that grew louder as they neared her door. Triplets, aged 10, quietly snuck in, shushing each other. They snuck up to the bed and smiled at each other before screaming and jumping on the bed to wake their sister.

Tatiana Rose Fairie jumped awake, laughing when she saw her little sisters. "Good morning, girls."

"Morning, Tooth!" Trinity greeted her sister. Tooth was Tatiana's nickname that her friends gave her. "Tabitha, Tiffany, and I wanted to make sure you weren't going to be late for your first day! Senior year after all!"

"Thank you, girls!" Tooth said as the triplets climbed down so their sister could get up. "You want to help me pick an outfit?"

"Yes!" they answered in unison.

The four sisters settled on a pink summer dress with silver flats and Tooth's favorite multi-colored belt. Tabitha helped Tooth brush her blonde hair while Tooth put in her purple contacts. Her eyes were normally almost black, which she hated.

The sisters ran downstairs to be greeted by their parents, Camille Isabella Fairie and David Ernest Fairie. The two had made french toast, sausage, and bacon. The girls happily dug in before going to brush their teeth.

Tooth smiled, proud of her shiny and well kept teeth. She was ready to start her last year with a bang.

* * *

A married couple, wife Lucy Madison Sanderson and husband Derek Toby Sanderson, walked into their son's room, smiling to see the almost-adult still fast asleep. Derek shook him to wake him up. Samuel Daniel Sanderson looked up at his father in confusion.

Derek smiled. "First day of school, buddy. Don't want to be late."

Samuel nodded, getting up and heading towards his closet. The dirty blonde haired, brown eyed boy was a mute, but could thankfully hear just fine. If he wanted to talk, he could either use sign language or write on a notepad he carried everywhere.

He didn't waste any time getting ready, eating breakfast, and getting his stuff into his backpack. He was almost always a late riser, and he didn't want to be late on his first day. He didn't want to ruin his perfect attendance record.

He gave his mother and father hugs and waved as he rushed out of the door.

* * *

Chloe Evie Bunnymund sighed in frustration. The night before the first day of school, her husband Ashton Jonathan Bunnymund and their son Edward Aster Bunnymund stayed up working on a father-son paint project. A 10 year old girl rushed into the room, giggling at the sight she saw.

"Wake up your brother, will you?" Chloe asked her daughter. "I'll make breakfast."

Phoebe Addison Bunnymund cracked her knuckles before walking over to her still sleeping brother. She took a deep breath before wrapping an arm around his neck and proceeding to wake him with a noogie.

"Ay!" Edward, called Bunny by his friends, jolted awake. "Cut that out, ya lil' anklebiter!"

Phoebe laughed and launched herself onto her brother's lap. "It's the first day of school, ya gumby. Don't wanna be late, do ya?"

Bunny sighed before picking his sister up and standing up.

"Alright, c'mon," Bunny said. "I'll go get dressed. You help Mom cook."

"Ok!" she squealed as Bunny put her down, taking off. The squeal woke up Ashton, who looked in confusion as his son left the room before setting his head back down and going back to sleep.

Bunny just dressed in a simple grey t-shirt, denim jeans, and grey sneakers. Something in his hormones caused his hair to naturally turn grey, so he just left it that way. His green eyes were still trying to wake up as he walked into the kitchen, his backpack hanging off his shoulder.

"There's my senior!" Chloe chuckled. "Your breakfast salad is on the table."

Bunny's family was vegetarian, but Bunny didn't mind. After all, there was an animal in his name. He was just fine without meat in his diet; he was the school's best track runner. He also had a reputation as the best artist.

"Eat, before you're late!" Chloe urged him. "And next time, know better than staying up late with your father on your projects!"

Bunny only rolled his eyes before sitting down at the breakfast table.

* * *

This is kind of like an introduction chapter for the Guardian's characters. I hope you like my story. More to come real soon!


	2. Chapter 2

A young adult gulped as he stood in front of a double metal door. He was scared - no, he was _terrified_ \- of the of being in the room behind that door. He took a deep breath and composed himself before knocking.

"Come in."

He slowly opened the door and stepped inside to see a boy about a year older than he standing at the window, looking out into the forest. The warehouse they were in had been both boy's home for the past month, located outside the small, innocent town of Burgess.

The black haired boy looked over his shoulder to see the tense, younger boy standing there, playing with hands nervously.

"Did you come here to report, Joseph, and did you want to have tea?"

Joseph cringed a little in fear before speaking up. "I came to report, Mr. Black."

"Then report!"

"He had a wife, Mr. Black," Joseph explained. "A pretty wife. But, uh, she left him 12 years ago after she found out about him dealing with the Boss."

"_I'm _the boss now, Joseph," the man corrected him.

"Of course, Mr. Black," Joseph nodded.

Mr. Black turned to look at Joseph angrily. "I already knew about his wife. That was the only person besides his sister that we knew of to bribe him with. But now they're both useless!"

Joseph tensed up as Mr. Black raised his voice. The man sighed before composing himself. "Where is she now?"

"Burgess," Joseph responded. "She moved there the same time we moved here. Must've seen the news about the old Boss's death and brought back bad memories. Must've wanted to get away, start new."

Mr. Black nodded in thought. "See if he has any other living relatives, blood related this time. The ex-wife will be our last resort."

"Yes, Boss," Joseph nodded before hurrying from the room.

Mr. Black sat down at his desk and sighed, re-reading the report he had sitting open. He didn't expect to take over his father's business so soon. He expected to do so when his father was old and crippled, not 45 and shot to death by police.

Mr. Black, who's first name was Pitch, looked at the name of the person whose file he was reading. He despised this man; this man was the reason his father was dead and he was hiding. But he went and killed himself to keep from paying a debt he owed. Pitch would get back every dime, and he would go to almost any length to get it.

His mouth spoke the name like venom. "_Joshua Michael Frost._"

* * *

All of Jack's excitement quickly turned to anxiety as he received his class schedule. Not only were they hard classes, but the classrooms themselves were hard to find. He only had 5 minutes until his first class and he had no clue where it was. He'd been searching for 25 minutes.

He finally admitted defeat and headed towards the nearest group of students to ask for help. There were four of them and they were laughing at a joke the tall, white haired one just told. Jack knew he couldn't be albino, too; his skin was a normal shade.

"Excuse me?" Jack asked, approaching the group. They all turned to look at him and they all smiled except the one that looked Australian. He gave a toothy smile back and the girl among the group gasped in delight.

The next thing Jack knew, fingers were poking around inside his mouth and he could see the top of the girl's head right underneath his eyes.

"They're so white!" she squealed in excitement. "Just like freshly fallen snow! You don't have them whitened, do you? These teeth are almost like magic!"

Jack grabbed the girl's wrists and pulled her away, snapping his mouth shut in shock. The big Russian boy practically picked the girl up and set her between the two other kids.

"Sorry about Toothy," he apologized in a thick, Russian accent. "You are new kid, I presume?"

"Oh, yeah!" Jack said, remembering why he approached them. "I can't find the math classroom."

"You must've passed it 5 times, ya dill," the Australian rolled his eyes, as if in disbelief that Jack couldn't find the room.

"What joy!" the Russian exclaimed, ignoring the Australian's comment. "We all share first class with you!" He pointed to himself. "I am Nicholas St. North, but friends call me North." He pointed to the girl. "This is Tatiana Rose Fairie, but we call her Tooth because of her love for teeth." She smiled to him, and he smiled back, closed mouth this time. North moved on to the Australian. "This is Edward Aster Bunnymund. We call him Bunny. Don't worry about him; he is big grump in mornings." Bunny gave North a warning glare, but North ignored him and pointed to the last of their group. "And this is Samuel Daniel Sanderson, but we call him Sandy. He is mute."

"Oh!" Jack said in excitement. Then he began moving his hands. **I've been wanting to test my sign language out again. Haven't used it in years.**

Sandy looked at Jack in shock. **How do you know sign language? **

Jack had a little hurt in his eyes as he responded. **My aunt was mute and deaf. **

Sandy nodded, not wanting to push on the subject on his aunt, because it was obviously touchy for him. From what Sandy could tell, he used past tense when referring to his aunt, which meant she was gone now. That would explain why Jack hadn't used it for a while.

The group began to lead Jack towards the math room and discovered that at least one of them had a class with Jack throughout the entire day. They all shared first hour class and eighth hour class.

"We never got your name, comrade," North pointed out as they took their seats in the math room.

"Oh," Jack smiled. "Jackson Nathaniel Frost. You can call me Jack, though."

"Are you an only child, Jack?" Tooth asked in curiosity.

Jack shook his head. "I have a 10-year-old brother named Jamie and a 5-year-old sister named Sophie."

"Oh, wonderful!" Tooth clapped. "I have three 10-year-old sisters and Bunny has a 10-year-old sister as well! They can be friends with Jamie and Sophie!"

Jack looked at Tooth in shock. "You have _triplets _in your family?"

North chuckled. "And they are just as hyper and tooth-loving as Toothy."

Jack groaned, causing everyone but Bunny to laugh. Bunny didn't like Jack so far. But he decided to question Jack.

"That your natural hair, mate?" Bunny asked, motioning to Jack's white hair.

"Yep!" Jack responded without hesitation. "I'm part albino."

Sandy scribbled something onto his notepad and set it out for everyone to see.

**Are Jamie and Sophie part albino as well?**

Bunny noticed that Jack stiffened as he read Sandy's question. He took a deep breath before answering.

"Their dad isn't my biological father, and the albino gene came from my father." Jack avoided their eyes. "But Jeremiah is the only father figure I ever knew, so I consider him my dad. My parents separated when I was 5, and dad was never even home, so I don't have any memories of him."

Sandy frowned before taking his notepad back and writing something else.

**Sorry; I should've asked.**

Jack only smiled at Sandy. "You didn't know." He looked at the entire group. "So tell me, how much trouble could I get into for a prank on the first day?"


	3. Chapter 3

Jack sighed as he found himself, once again, lost. He'd gone down this hallway three times now, yet he still couldn't find the art room.

"Frostbite!"

Jack turned to glare at the person who just called them that, seeing it was Bunny, angrily standing inside a door.

"Get in here before the bell rings or you'll be late!"

Jack quickly ran into the room and found himself in the art room. The teacher assigned him to the seat next to Bunny.

"I'm giving you a free day," the teacher explained. "Draw whatever your heart desires."

Jack watched as Bunny instantly got to work. The paper soon became filled with all sorts of cool designs like you'd put on Easter eggs.

"Planning Easter, are ya Mr. Bunny?" Jack joked.

"Rack off, Frostbite," Bunny replied coldly, not even looking up. "Just get to work."

Jack frowned before turning to his own paper and grabbing his pencil. Out of his new friends, he decided Bunny was definitely his least favorite. The kid didn't know how to have fun; but Jack was definitely going to change that.

After all, what's life without fun?

* * *

Annabelle and Jeremiah smiled as they heard the door swing open, followed by two giggles and a roaring teenager. Bags were tossed to the floor and Jamie and Sophie burst into the kitchen, Jack not far behind.

"Alright, children," Annabelle chuckled. "Stop running. Don't wanna get hurt or break anything."

"Jamie, Sophie, why don't you go outside and play on the swing set?" Jeremiah suggested.

"Ok!" they said in unison. Jamie grabbed his sister's hand, leading her outside. Jack was about to follow them when Annabelle spoke up.

"Jack, we need to talk to you," she said. "Shall we go sit down in the kitchen?"

"I've been a good kid," Jack joked as they sat down. "No pranks whatsoever. I even made four friends!"

"That's great Jack," Jeremiah smiled. "But this isn't about school."

"It's about your father," Annabelle confessed, not looking her son in the eye.

Jack's smile fell. He didn't like talking about his birth father. Jeremiah would always be who he considered his dad, and that was that. They both knew that.

"Do you remember why we moved?" Jeremiah asked.

"Mom suddenly wanted to move away," Jack shrugged. "And she wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Jack, your father is part of the reason we moved," Annabelle explained. "I found out, when we were still together, that he was secretly working for a drug lord named Patrick Black. So I packed everything up, gathered you in my arms, and left him."

"You told me he left us!" Jack replied angrily.

"Hush!" Jeremiah warned him. "We don't want to worry Jamie or Sophie!"

"Jack," Annabelle cut in, with a sad look on her face. "You were 10 when you asked me what happened to your father. How am I supposed to tell a 10-year-old his father's a drug dealer and I left to protect both of us from getting kidnapped or killed?"

That caused Jack to go silent. Annabelle looked down and sniffed. It made Jack's heart hurt; he didn't like it when his mother cried.

"Jack," Jeremiah picked up. "The night Annabelle begged we move, she was watching the 6 o'clock news. Your father was on there; so was Patrick Black."

"So? Why should I care?" Jack asked, with almost a cold tone to his voice.

"He went and gave Patrick up to the police," Jeremiah explained. "You remember Aunt Margaret?" Jack nodded. "She was a sister to your father, Joshua. And when she died in that car accident, Joshua got a loan of money from Patrick to pay for the funeral. He thought he could get out of paying it back by giving Patrick up. But one of Patrick's men caught him leaving the station."

"He went home and burned all of the pictures from us when we were still a family, to protect me and you," Annabelle continued. "Then he shot himself. The police went after Patrick and were able to shoot him as well, and he died before he even got to the hospital."

"Police suspect that his son, Pitch, took over," Jeremiah sighed. "But Pitch went into hiding and they can't find him. Your mom was worried that if Pitch found out about you, he'd come after you. So we moved here, to protect you."

Jack looked down at his hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. For the last 7 years, he'd hated Joshua Frost for abandoning him and his mom. Now that he knew the truth, he didn't really know how to feel about his father.

"Jack?" Annabelle asked nervously.

Jack made sure he felt composed before looking up at his parents. He nodded absentmindedly before looking out the patio doors to watch Jamie pushing Sophie higher on the swing. The girl laughed happily, making Jack finally smile.

"I love you guys," was all that came out Jack's mouth towards his parents until after suppertime.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I am SOOOOOOOO sorry for not posting for so long! I was working a whole bunch and then I'm starting college and starting piano lessons again and it seems like the time I spend for downtime is spent sleeping to re-coop. But, here's another chapter, finally!

* * *

Joseph ran down the hallway, excited as he clutched a folder in his hands. For the first time, he wasn't afraid to face Pitch Black with news, especially news like this. He was excited to see Pitch's delightful reaction.

He composed himself before knocking on the door.

"Come in."

Pitch sounded annoyed. But Joseph confidently walked in and smiled.

"He has a son, boss," he told Pitch.

Pitch straightened up, turned from the window to Joseph, and a wicked smile spread onto his face. "Tell me about him."

Joseph opened the folder and began scanning it.

"Mike just found new school records an hour ago," Joseph relayed. "Annabelle didn't even change his last name. He's 17, a new senior at Burgess High School. Name's-" And Joseph stopped.

"The name?" Pitch asked expectantly.

"I know him," Joseph confessed. "Jackson Nathaniel Frost. My friends bullied him for his weird looks when he was a freshmen."

"Then this will work out to both of our advantages, Joe," Pitch sat down at his desk. "Here's the plan."

* * *

Tooth was waiting impatiently by Jack's locker for the others (including Jack), so they could all walk to class together. Tooth was excited by the fact that they had a new friend, especially one as funny and carefree as Jack. They all tended to get a little too serious at times, trying to be perfect for everyone at everything, so Jack was a good way for them to let go and have fun once in a while. It was something they'd need.

"Hey, teeth freak." Tooth looked up to glare at Derek and Casey, two of the school's football stars. "Waiting for your new obsession?" They laughed.

Tooth jumped in shock as a fist swung past her and collided with Casey's jaw. Derek caught the stumbling teen and looked towards the person behind Tooth.

"You freaks!"

Then he quickly drug Casey off towards the nurse's office. Tooth turned to see a shocked Bunny, North, and Sandy looking at a clearly irritated Jack, whose fingers were still curled up into tight fists.

"Crikey mate!" Bunny finally spoke. "Are you blooming mad? You could get a detention for that!"

Jack turned to Bunny and gave a dangerous glare. "I don't tolerate bullying." He stuffed his fists into his pockets and walked off. The four friends watched him walk off in shock before Bunny crossed his arms and glared after the retreating being.

"I told you he was trouble," he muttered, but North caught what he said.

"Trouble?" North replied angrily. "He was defending friend, Bunny. What is so troublesome about that?"

"He punched a kid!" Bunny replied in disbelief.

Sandy held up his notepad and Bunny read it real quick. _A mean kid._

Bunny scoffed and pushed Sandy's notepad back to him. "You're gonna regret making friends with him."

"Ah," North said. "Then you shall share regret with us, comrade. Any friend of our's is a friend of your's."

"That troublesome brat is _not _my friend," Bunny growled. "He's only been here for a week. How can you guys trust him? We don't know a thing about him! You heard what he said about where he came from! He could just be another druggie!"

Around the corner, Jack slumped down, heart filling with hurt. He knew Bunny was weary of him, but he didn't imagine Bunny harbored such harsh opinions. Sighing, Jack hung his head and turned around to head to class, only to bump into someone.

"Sorry!" he burst out before catching a good look at the person. "Wait. Joe? Joseph Hanger? Is that really you, dude?"

"Jack!" Joe said in excitement. "Out of all the places to run into each other again, huh?"

"Yeah," Jack replied, almost angrily. Joe hesitated. This wasn't starting out well. Of course Jack wouldn't trust him off the bat; he used to bully the kid. He was still the same white-haired freak, but now he had some value to Joe.

Joe smiled. "Hey, no hard feelings, right? Past is the past."

"Yeah, sure," Jack rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here? You're four years older than me, aren't you?"

Joe shrugged. "I decided to come back and get my diploma." Jack's eyebrows shot up in interest. Joe smiled. "I didn't want to be a street druggie my entire life. So I got out of the city and came here, to a smaller town where I can start again."

That brought a smile to Jack's face. "Good for you. But, if you'll excuse me, I don't want to be late."

"Speaking of late," Joe looked at his schedule, which he got manipulated to be the exact same as Jack's. "Where's the math room?"

"Oh, I have that class," Jack said. "I'll just take you there."

"Great!" Joe placed a hand Jack's shoulder, who tensed up a little. "An excuse to catch up! You have siblings, don't you? How old are they now?"

Jack vaguely answered all of Joe's questions as they headed towards the math room, unsure of what to think of this man's sudden interest in him. The only time Joe ever paid attention to him before was to laugh at his expense. Maybe he really was starting over. And that would include making new, better (and more positive) friends.


	5. Chapter 5

I'M BAAAAAAACK! And I feel awful for not updating in SOOOOOOOOOOOO long! I'm making several New Year's Resolutions, and updating more often is one of them! Here we go!

Also, just to make sure it's clear, Jack was originally from New York, New York, in this story. The setting for the story is in Burgess, Virginia.

* * *

"I don't like him."

Tooth sighed. "Bunny, we've been over this. Give Jack a chance alrea-"

"No!" Bunny corrected her. "Not frostbite. That new kid ... uh, Joe."

"Old comrade of Jack?" North spoke up.

"They don't look like friends to me, North," Bunny said. "Jack seems weary of him."

Sandy wrote something down and held it up for his friends to see. **Jack told me they had a rocky past back in New York. Apparrantely, Joe and his friends bullied Jack.**

"A bully involved with drugs," Bunny said, shaking his head. "Not a good combination."

"Give boy a chance, Bunny," North said. "If you still don't like him after week or so, then we talk to friend Jack."

"Where is he, anyway!?" Bunny said, looking towards the door. "He was supposed to be here 10 minutes ago!"

"He's probably taking his siblings home, Bunny," Tooth said, placing a hand on Bunny's shoulder. "He doesn't have a car, remember?"

"Then he should've accepted my offer for a ride." Bunny crossed his arms and Tooth only shook her head.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Jack tumbled in. "Sorry I'm late! I accidentally locked myself out of my house."

The four kids laughed, making Jack smile.

"Only you, Jack," Bunny smirked.

Jack plopped down on the floor in between Bunny and Sandy. "Ok, let's get this party started! Have we come up with a subject?"

"The history of Christmas!" North happily announced.

"Nah, mate!" Bunny resisted. "If we're doing a holiday, we're doing Easter!"

"Bah, everyone knows Christmas is better than Easter, Bunny." North laughed as Bunny fumed in annoyance.

"What about teeth!?" Tooth excitedly suggested. "That'd be easy to gather historical papers on! People are constantly researching teeth!"

Sandy shook his head and wrote something down. **We should write about dreams. They're interesting and a cool mystery. **

"How does that relate to history, though?" Bunny asked. "I say Easter."

"I say Christmas!" North countered.

"Easter!"

"Christmas!"

"Easter!"

"Christmas!"

"Eas-"

"HOW ABOUT THIS!?" Jack shouted, shutting them all up. "Why don't we write about a historical building in Burgess? The local library would have tons of books and papers on it, and the internet might have some stuff, too."

"Oh Jack, what a wonderful idea!" Tooth gasped happily. "Burgess building, it is, then! But which one? There are several."

"How about the old Burgess cottage out by Pippa's Lake?" Bunny suggested.

"Pippa's Lake?" Jack asked.

"Yes!" North clapped his hands together. "Is fantastic story, Jack! Augustus Burgess is founder of the township of Burgess in colonial times! He had daughter named Pippa, and she loved that lake like no other. The lake was named after her, and that cottage is where the Burgess family lived."

"That's sounds great!" Jack smiled. "Let's do it!"

* * *

Joe groaned as he plopped down onto his bed. Going back to school sucked, even if it was all for show. He still had to do the work, and it was killing him. He managed to be able to write that history paper by himself instead of in a group so that no one would get to know him and be suspicious of him. He'd just write something up about New York the night before it was due. He always passed doing that back when he was actually in school.

Mike popped his head in, with a worried face. "Boss wants to see you, man. And I'm warning ya: he's in a bad mood today."

"Great," Joe groaned. "I'll be there in a minute."

After said minute, Joe hopped up and headed towards Pitch's office. He knocked before going in to see Pitch writing away furiously on his desk.

"It's been weeks." Joe froze in realization. "Tell me, Joseph, why hasn't there been any progress?"

Joe thought for a moment. How would he get himself out of this one? "Well, you see ... He's never alone. He's got these four friends that never let him out of their sight."

Pitch sighed in annoyance. "You have a gun for a reason."

"Ah, but you told me specifically to take Jack quietly, no so one would notice until it was too late."

...

"Damn your good hearing and remembrance skills."

Joe couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Work as much as you can to gain his trust. If nothing changes by the end of this week, we'll have to come up with some sort of plan to speed this process along." Pitch turned to look out the window into the forest, seeming to be lost in thought.

* * *

Jamie didn't exactly know what to think of Jack's group of friends. They were all so different, it was hard to believe they got along so well. Sophie, of course, was a different story. She'd instantly developed a liking to Bunny, especially his nickname.

"Bunnies are her favorite animal," Jack had explained.

Annabelle and Jeremiah were estatic that Jack had made such wonderful friends. Ever since they met the kids, especially Bunny and North (who were honestly huge boys compared to Jack), they'd seemed to finally settle into their home. Jamie wasn't stupid; he could see something had been bothering his parents, and it had something to do with Jack. He just couldn't figure out what.

"Please, stay for dinner!" Annabelle had begged Jack's friend. Then she and Jeremiah preceeded to embarrass Jack by telling stories of when he was younger and the pranks he always pulled.

"How he managed to get the egg color bombs into the locker without anyone seeing him, I don't think I'll ever know," Jeremiah laughed as they started into dessert.

"Once a prankster, always a prankster, huh?" Bunny had snorted, lightly elbowing Jack.

"And the King of Pranks I will forever be!" Jack proudly announced.

Things began to calm down when Jack put Jamie to bed that night (at Jamie's request, of course).

"Jack?"

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Did you get into trouble at school?"

Jack looked at him with a weird look. "What are ya talking about?"

"Well," Jamie shrugged. "Mom and Dad seemed really weary until you got those friends you have now. I was just wondering if you had gotten in trouble or something and everything was better after you made friends."

Jack sadly smiled to Jamie. Jamie was way too young to know the truth about Jack's father, and there was no reason to tell Jamie anyway. Jack's father wasn't Jamie's father; it would never be Jamie's burden.

"Well, you know me, kiddo," Jack joked, ruffling Jamie's hair, earning a protest in response. "When do I ever stay _out _of trouble? I guess Mom and Dad are relieved there's finally people that can reign me in."

Jamie laughed and cuddled into his blankets, hugging his stuffed rabbit close, a hand-me-down from Jack. It was Jamie's most prized possession. "I love you, Jack."

Jack kissed Jamie's forehead and reached for the lamp. "I love you too, Jamie. Good night, and sweet dreams."


	6. Chapter 6

This is a shorter chapter, I know, but it's really all I could think up to put into this chapter without having too much going on. Enjoy!

* * *

Jack groaned as he plopped into his chair. He _hated _Chemistry with a passion for two reasons: it was hard and it was the only class that none of his friends were in. Joe didn't count; Jack didn't consider him a friend.

Jack smirked as he thought about last class. Bunny obviously didn't like being called a Kangaroo, which only enouraged Jack's antics. Joe had found it hysterical, which made Bunny even more angry.

Speaking of Joe, the 21-year-old plopped down into the seat next to Jack. "Sup, Jack?"

"I'm going to die of chemicals."

Joe snickered. "Oh come on, Chemistry isn't that bad."

"Says the boy that never had to do his homework because he forced the nerds to do it for him."

"Hey!" Joe put a hand over his heart, looking hurt and offended. "I actually did do _some _stuff in high school, you know."

Jack only rolled his eyes as the teacher walked in as the bell rang. His name was Mr. Manny; he was also, surprisingly, the principal of the school. Why the principal decided to be the science teacher as well astonished Jack. Mr. Manny, however, was the only thing Jack liked about this class: he was a cool teacher and a chill principal, until someone pissed him off, that is.

"Alright, class!" Mr. Manny said enthusiastically. "Time for projects!"

A group of groaning replied.

"Oh, it won't be that bad, I promise!" Mr. Manny laughed. "It's just a simple poster of the periodic table! Choose different colors for each different category of elements. For each element, I want listed: the full name of the element, its symbol, its relative atomic mass, and its atomic number. There's a periodic table in the back of your textbooks for you to go off of. And no copying and pasting: you actually have to draw out a table onto a big poster board."

"Ugh, work," Joe chuckled, smirking at Jack. Jack only rolled his eyes.

"Now for groups!" Mr. Manny picked up a paper. "I figured groups of two will be best, and you'll have all this week, since it's Wednesday, and next week, so it better be spectacular. First group: Amy and Elizabeth. Second group: Michael and Christina. Third group: John and ..."

Jack began to tune out Mr. Manny as he listened off the students. He was pulled back to reality when he heard his name. "Jack and Joe."

Jack mentally groaned and Joe lit up, as if he was relieved. If Joe was still the same, classic Joe, Jack would be doing all the work. He'd just convince Sandy and Bunny to help him if it came down to it. Jack _would not _get a bad grade because Joe was lazy.

But in Joe's mind, a million and one ideas were popping through his head. This was the perfect opportunity to get Jack separated from his friends. No one could be suspicious if they had to work on a project together. And once Jack trusted him alone enough to be with him ...

Oh, Pitch would surely love him forever.


	7. Chapter 7

Jack tried sneaking out of World History as quickly as he could, only to mentally groan as Joe popped up beside him. Joe's backpack was dangling from his shoulder in his hurry.

"So, what're you and your friends doing the history project on?" Joe asked.

"Uh, the Founder of Burgess' home over by Pippa's Lake," Jack replied as they reached his locker. He turned away from Joe, tossing his current textbook in and searching for the next one. He _really _needed to get more organized.

"You know, Jack, I think I can help you find the perfect stuff for your project."

"Oh yeah?" Jack rolled his eyes, figuring Joe was just talking crap. "How so?"

"An old acquaintance of mine takes care of that building," Joe smirked. "He would let you and me in to look around - take some pictures, write down some notes. What better way to research a building than on site!?"

"Great!" Jack nodded. "I'll tell the others."

"Ah, that's the thing," Joe quickly replied. "He'll only let two people at a time and one of them has to be a person he knows and trusts. One of those people is _me_, obviously. Therefore ... your friends can't come. You can tell them later to thank me."

"Whatever," Jack rolled his eyes. He scribbled something quickly onto a piece of paper and handed it to Joe. "Just text me the time and place. Now if you'll excuse me, I don't want to be late for art."

"Wait for me!"

* * *

"You'll never believe what I found!"

Tooth rushed through the library, being shushed by several people before reaching North, Sandy, and Bunny. Jack had already went home for the day because his parents had to work late, so he had to watch Jamie and Sophie. The group promised to update him on whatever they'd gotten done in the project.

"What is it, Toothy?" North asked. "You seem pretty frantic."

"Well, I was looking up articles on the internet about Pippa's Lake and the Burgess Home and I randomly came across this."

Bunny took the article. The title read: _**FORMER DRUG DEALER PUT TO REST AFTER BRAVE DUTY DONE.**_

"What does this have to do with anything, Tooth?" Bunny sighed.

"This happened in New York, Bunny!" Tooth explained in annoyance. "Right before Jack moved here! The guy's name is Joshua Frost. He's the one that lead them to the drug lord they've been having problems with there. Look at his picture!"

The three boys looked closer at the colored picture of the man. Bright and cocky smile, ocean blue eyes, pale skin, white hair ...

"He looks familiar," North pondered.

"I think he's Jack's real father." The three boys looked up at Tooth in shock. "Well, think about it! Jack said his father was albino and he never likes to talk about him. This could be why! His father was a drug dealer."

**But he had a change of heart, **Sandy reasoned. **Why would Jack be ashamed of that?**

"Well, honestly Sandy," Bunny reminded him. "People tend to look at the bad things someone has done before looking at the good things. He probably doesn't want people thinking he'll end up like his father."

Sandy nodded in understanding. Bunny looked over the article again before handing it back to Tooth.

"Why don't we ask Jack about it tomorrow, while working on the project?" Bunny suggested. "We can convince him that he has nothing to worry about and that we won't judge him."

"Awe," Tooth smiled. "I knew you cared about him."

"Oh, rack off," Bunny blushed. "He's just a friend."

"Oh no!" Tooth chuckled. "I don't mean anything romantically. All of us know you think of him as a little brother! You've been so protective of him around Joe. It's actually kind of sweet."

Bunny shrugged. "Well, _none _of us want him getting involved in the wrong crowd. Even if I trust the son of a drug dealer, that doesn't mean I'll trust a drug dealer himself. Former or not."

"Is settled, then!" North boomed, earning several shushes. "We convince Jack of our trustworthiness tomorrow at Tooth's house!"

* * *

PLEASE REVIEW! I LIKE TO HEAR WHAT YOU GUYS THINK! :)


	8. Chapter 8

North happily left the last class of the day with Tooth, Sandy, Bunny, and Jack, excited for today's activities that were to come.

"So, Jack," Tooth smiled as they walked towards their lockers. "How long can you stay with us today to work on the project?"

His eyes widened. "Actually, I can't work at all today."

"What?" Bunny asked, a little frustrated. He'd been worried all night and day about the article that Tooth showed them yesterday.

"I have a family thing," he rambled off. "Sorry. Family first, ya know? I'll see you guys later!"

Jack rushed off towards the elementary school to pick up Sophie and Jamie, leaving his friends behind, confused and shocked. As Jack disappeared down the street, Bunny's glare and frown thickened.

"Well, isn't that just great!" He turned to the others, angry. "He's skipped on us for two days now, and it's always lousy situations that he can't even fully explain!"

"You know he doesn't trust well, Bunny ..." Tooth started.

"That's just it, Toothy!" Bunny snapped. "He's been here for almost a whole semester now and he still can't trust us? This is getting ridiculous. You'd think that he would have improved at least a little bit!"

"Bunny, we must be patient-"

"I'm tired of being patient, North!" Bunny growled, stepping towards North. "Jack needs to realize certain things. He needs to stop acquainting himself with Joe, and he needs to learn to step up and handle his responsibilities! Maybe I was wrong to even care or trust!"

North, Tooth, and Sandy watched in shock as Bunny stomped away.

* * *

"How much longer, Joe? This is, like, the middle of the woods."

"Well, they didn't exactly have perfect roads and all of the concrete and brick buildings back then that we have now, Jack," Joe chuckled. "Keep in mind they didn't have cars either. They either had horses, carriages, or had to walk on foot."

"That would've sucked. Glad I live in today's time."

Joe only rolled his eyes as he took another turn. Jack saw Pippa's Lake come into view, with an old, wooden cottage on the other side of the lake. Even though the cottage was well-preserved, it still had an erie feeling to it that was making Jack nervous.

They pulled up to the cottage, and Jack slowly unbuckled as Joe turned off the car. As Jack stepped out of the car, he could hear birds chirping and could see the wind gently gliding across the lake's surface. The wind seemed to help calm him.

Joe and Jack walked up to the cottage and Jack saw the door handle had been redone to a modern lock. Joe fumbled around in his pockets to find the key. Pulling it out, he smiled at Jack.

"You got your camera and notebook?" he asked.

"Yes!" Jack pulled them out of his backpack to show Joe. "New film and pen at the ready!"

"Alright," Joe said, turning to the door and unlocking it. Opening it, he stepped aside to let Jack in. Jack looked around the plain two-room building.

Joe placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Where should we begin?"

* * *

Tooth, Bunny, North, and Sandy were watching Trinity, Tabitha, Tiffany, and Phoebe play in the yard when a car pulled up. Bunny looked to see Jack's parents and siblings get out of the car. Annabelle looked like a wreck, and Jeremiah looked like he was struggling to hold it together. The four's parents all came out of the house (they gathered together once a week to do "grown-up things" as Tiffany put it) as Jeremiah ushered Jamie and Sophie to go play with the other kids.

"Annabelle," Camille said, setting her hands on the woman's shoulders. "What's wrong?" She looked around in confusion. "Where's Jack?"

Annabelle burst into tears once more, falling into Camille's arms. Jeremiah sighed and rubbed her back. Everyone looked to him in question. Jeremiah looked down.

"Jack never came home."

Tooth, North, Sandy, and Bunny all felt their hearts stop at his next sentence.

"He's missing."


	9. Chapter 9

TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY! I AM FEELING ACCOMPLISHED! ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S MISSING!"

"Bunny!" Tooth jumped up, taking his hands into her own, forcing him to look at her. "Calm down. It's ok." She turned to Jack's parents and Bunny took deep breaths, waiting patiently.

Jeremiah pulled a paper out of his pocket. "Someone rang our doorbell, and Jamie went to go answer it. He came back, saying no one was there, but this note was sitting on the porch in front of the door."

North grabbed the note and the others looked over his tattooed arms to read it.

**You didn't think you could hide him forever, did you? - P.B.**

"P.B.?" North asked. "Who is P.B.?"

"That's what the police are trying to figure out right now," Annabelle finally spoke up. "I knew I should've changed his last name, Jeremiah, I just knew it. His own father even told me to and I didn't. I've failed my son!"

"It's not your fault, honey," Jeremiah sighed, taking his wife into his arms. "We thought we'd taken him far enough away that they wouldn't find him."

"Who's 'they'?" Ashton asked.

Tooth jumped forward in realization. "Does it have something to do with someone named Joshua Frost?"

Annabelle and Jeremiah looked at Tooth in shock. Jeremiah's eyes narrowed.

"How did you find out about him?" he asked.

"I ran into an article about him while I was looking for historical articles for the project we're doing in History with Jack," Tooth explained. "It said something about Joshua being dead and a drug lord."

Annabelle sighed. She turned to Jamie. "Jamie, take the other children and go play in the backyard. We'll be talking inside if you need anything."

The kids ran to the backyard to the triplet's extensive playground while everyone else filed into the living room. Once everyone was situated, Annabelle began her story.

"Joshua is my ex-husband. He's also Jack's birth father. Jack was just starting school when I found out that Joshua was dealing with drugs. So I took Jack and left. I met Jeremiah a year later. I didn't talk to see Joshua again until about a year and a half ago when he called me up, saying that his sister, Margaret, died in a car accident. I gave my condolences, and Jack and I attended the funeral, because Jack had loved her dearly. I found out later he borrowed from a drug lord named Patrick Black to pay for the funeral and final expenses."

"This past summer changed everything," Jeremiah continued as Annabelle started struggling to speak. "Annabelle was watching the nightly news and rushed into the kitchen as I was making dinner. She was pale and looked deathly terrified. The news report was about Patrick and Joshua; both were dead."

"Joshua had turned Patrick in," Tooth commented.

"Yes," Jeremiah agreed. "He tried to avoid paying his debt to Patrick by turning him in. Only one of Patrick's men saw him leaving the station. So Joshua went home, burned his few pictures of Annabelle and Jack, and shot himself. The police caught up to Patrick and shot him; he died before reaching the hospital."

"But if Patrick's dead," North wondered. "What harm is he to Jack?"

"Police suspect Patrick's son, Pitch, took over the business," Jeremiah explained. "But Pitch has practically dropped off of the face of the Earth; no one can find him." Jeremiah sighed. "We told the police everything, and they're looking over all of Virginia and New York. Annabelle and I were worried they'd come after Jack and try to force him to pay off the debt. And I'm worried that that's who has taken him."

Evie leaned forward and placed a hand on top of Jeremiah's. "They'll find him; I know they will."

"Wait a minute," David said. He turned to the four seniors. "Weren't you lot planning on working on your History project today?"

"Yeah," Bunny sighed. "But Jack said he had something to do with 'family business' to get to and ran off before we could do anything."

"Family business?" Annabelle asked, confused. "I don't know what'd that be. I was picking up Jamie and Sophie today, and we have no relatives close by. They're all back in New York."

Bunny thought for a minute. Then his eyes widened. "That's it! Joe!"

"Joe?" Jeremiah asked.

"There's a new kid," Bunny explained. "Joseph Hanger. I don't trust him."

"Said he knew Jack from back in New York," North added. "Came here to get out of drug business and start new."

"Joseph is in Black's group!" Jeremiah growled. "That bastard!"

"Jeremiah, please," Annabelle said, placing a hand on his shoulder. She turned to Bunny. "How long has Joseph been around?"

"Half a semester," Bunny replied. "Now that I think about it, he had the same exact schedule as Jack's. He must've planned it that way!"

Jeremiah stood up. "I'm calling the police and let them know." He stormed from the room, leaving everyone in silence.

* * *

Jamie had been frustrated when the grown ups and Jack's friends made him and the other kids stay outside. Though it didn't seem to bother the other kids, but Jamie wasn't fooled.

He knew something was very wrong. He knew it involved Jack and whatever it was had to be the reason he never came home today. He recognized the terrifying meanings of the words missing and police. He just couldn't wrap it around his head that someone would want to take and hurt Jack. He couldn't imagine who would want to hurt his big brother.

"Jamie!" Trinity shouted, pulling him back from his thoughts. "Come on; we're going to play a game! You be the knight!"

Jamie sighed but ran to join the kids, letting the fun of the game distract him for a little while. Jack would be ok; he had to keep believing in hope.


	10. Chapter 10

Joe looked in the back seat to see Jack completely still, probably frightened into shock. Joe had closed the door as Jack began to look around the cabin in shock. He let Jack wander around for a couple of minutes and get comfortable, taking pictures and jotting down notes and Joe tried to get his supplies out of his backpack. Jack had wandered into the second room of the two-room cabin, so Joe took the opportunity to pull out some rope.

As soon as Jack came back in, Joe had tackled the small teen to the ground. Jack fought back, of course, but it didn't do much damage. His hands were soon tied behind his back and his ankles were tied together. Joe then reached into his backpack and pulled out some cloth and a blindfold. He covered Jack's eyes and put the cloth in Jack's mouth to keep him quiet. The entire time, Jack continued to fight back.

It took Joe a couple of minutes to get the struggling, bound teen into his pickup. But after that was accomplished, Jack seemed to realize his fight was useless and just sat quietly in his seat, waiting to see what was going to happen. The drive lasted for about an hour before Joe finally pulled up to the warehouse. He jumped out and opened the back door, beginning to untie Jack's ankles.

"Don't try anything funny, Frost," he warned, yanking the cloth from Jack's mouth. "Ya here?"

"Yes," Jack replied softly.

"Be quiet."

Joe pulled Jack from the truck, who winced when his feet roughly hit the ground, almost sending him to his knees. But Joe roughly pulled him up and began dragging him towards the entrance. Jack struggled to keep up comfortably.

"Joe, boss man wants to see -" Matt stopped in shock seeing Jack. "Man, you're going to make his day! You got the kid!"

Joe felt Jack cringe at that statement. He only smiled to Matt.

"I know man," Joe pulled Jack into the building while Matt held the door open. "Boss in his office?"

"Yep," Matt replied. "And he's very impatient, so you better get the kid there quick."

Jack felt Joe push him onto a chair and readjusted his bound hands so they were bound securely to the chair sides. He felt feet shuffling and heard an amused hum.

"Told you, boss," Joe said, almost sounding as if he was fullfilling the promise. "I told you it would work."

"Smart thinking on your part, Joe," a dark, sinister voice spoke. It made chills run up Jack's spine. This man definitely didn't want to be Jack's friend.

_I'm in some deep shit, _he thought.

"You wanna tell me your name, boy?"

Jack remained silent. Bony, long fingers suddenly grabbed his jaw roughly. "I want your name!"

"Jack Frost!" Jack quickly gasped. The fingers released him and the hand pushed him back against the chair before releasing him completely. Foot steps began pacing throughout the room.

"Do you know your father's name?"

Jack froze. What this about his father!? No wonder his mom and Jeremiah were too scared to stay in New York after his father died.

"What. Is. His. Name?"

"Joshua," Jack quickly answered. "Joshua Frost." Everything went quiet for a moment. "Can you please take this blindfold off?"

Joe pulled the blindfold from Jack's eyes, and he saw his captor.

A boy not much older than Jack stood before him in a sharp, black suit. His skin was very pale and his hair was midnight black. His smile scared Jack to the core.

"Might as well do introductions," he spoke. "You obviously know my second-hand man, Joe." Jack glared at Joe before quickly turning back to the man in charge. "As for me, I'm Pitch Black, the leader of this drug gang. Your father used to work for my father."

He got right up in Jack's face. "Thanks to your father, mine is dead, and I had to take over and hide. I also have to find a way to get back the money that your father was trying to escape paying. So guess where you come in with that?"

Jack tried to get words to form, but he felt nothing in his throat but the tightness from how nervous and scared he was at the moment. Pitch only smiled and backed away.

"You get to pay for your father's mistakes, Jack," Pitch explained. "And as long as you do everything I want you to do, I won't hurt your friends or family."

Jack's mind instantly went to his mother and siblings. He had to do everything in his power to protect them. Tooth and Sandy could be protected by North and Bunny, but he didn't want those four getting hurt either. He felt like he really had no choice but to give in.

"Do we have a deal, Jack?"

The room was silent for a moment.

...

"Yes."


	11. Chapter 11

A 20-year-old man secured his cap over his head, hiding any of his hair that could possibly stick out. He tightly wrapped his leather jacket around him, securing the bag of drugs he had hidden. He was waiting patiently in an alley for his buyer. But he was getting impatient.

Another man walked into the alley. The sharp suit and slicked black hair didn't fool this drug dealer; the man was addicted and losing all of his money, fast. He was just like all of the clients: soon-to-be failures trying to hide behind an addictive escape.

The suited man pulled something out of his jacket pocket: a wad of cash. He tossed it to the capped man, who in turn tossed the drugs to the waiting customer. They both nodded to each other and then went their separate ways. That's how it always was.

Once the dealer reached a warehouse, he quietly went inside, ignoring the snickers and whispers that his presence started up. He went into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Do you have to be so loud?" another man groaned from his bed.

The two shared the room together, orders from their boss. The standing man pulled the cap from his head and smirked.

"Anything to annoy you," he said, chucking the hat at the man in the left bed.

The man yelped in shock and shot up, glaring daggers. "Don't test me, Jack. Or I will tell the Boss about your little 'adventure' into town the other day." Jack felt his face go more pale, if that was even possible. The other man, Joe, only smirked, laying back down.

Jack was a hostage, in everyone's opinion. His full name? Jackson Nathaniel Frost. Joe lured him away from protection 3 years now, kidnapping him at 17, bringing him here. Now Jack was stuck here unless and until he paid off his late father's debt to the drug lord that resided here, Pitch Black. And how was he doing that?

By selling drugs.

The rules were simple when he went to meet a client:

1\. Go there, and come straight back.

2\. Don't talk.

3\. Don't let _anyone _see your hair.

His hair would be a dead giveaway to who he was. Not a lot of albino kids went missing because they'd be so easy to find with their white hair. He could only imagine what his parents, siblings, and friends were going through after all this time. Every day, he wondered if they gave up on him.

Jack had snuck into Burgess to watch his now 13-year-old brother, Jamie, play in a school baseball game. And the kid was pretty good. Sophie, who was now 8, was always cheering from the sidelines. Jack's mother, Annabelle, and stepfather, Jeremiah, always sat there with smiles, but made no noise.

Jack had heard from Joe that Bunny, Tooth, North, and Sandy had all graduated and were now going to the same college together, somewhere in Virginia. Jack hoped they weren't staying close by because of him.

Jack plopped onto his bed and looked at his few pictures he had taped to the wall, the ones he had had in his pocket when brought here for the first time 3 years ago. He let his fingers glide over them, bringing up happy memories. He smiled when they landed on a special picture.

"Happy birthday, Mom."

* * *

Annabelle sat in silence. As much as she was trying to enjoy her birthday, she was always hoping, with each passing day, some news of Jack's whereabouts would come up. The police promised they'd keep an eye out, but it had been 3 years now. Most police gave up by then. But she refused to think her son was gone for good.

When the phone rang, Jeremiah shot up to answer it. After a minute of hushed talking, he handed the phone to Annabelle with a huge smile on his face. She looked at him for a moment, confused, then took the phone.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Bennett?"

"This is she."

"This is Detective Bowers, from the Burgess Police Department," a man spoke.

"Ah, yes," Annabelle smiled. "You're that nice fellow that joined about 3 years back, yes?"

"Yeah," Bowers confirmed. "And I have a birthday present for you. I hope it's enough."

"Ok," Annabelle chuckled. "And what might that be?"

"I think I've got a lead on Jack."

* * *

Bunny scribbled madly in his notebook, trying to make sense of all of these crazy algebra equations. He hated math; he much preferred a paint brush, a canvas, and an open imagination. North, his college roommate and life-long best friend, sat on the other side of the room, humming a Christmas tune while typing away on his laptop. He was working on a English report.

There was a hurried knock at the door, tapped out in a pattern.

"Come on in, friend!" North hollered. "We are just studying!"

The door opened to Sandy, another life-long friend. He bounded in with his own algebra book and pencil in hand.

"Join the club, mate," Bunny chuckled.

Sandy quickly plopped down next to him and began looking at what Bunny had done so far. After another 15 minutes, Tooth bounded into the room, laptop in arms.

"I can't be in my dorm room anymore," she groaned, plopping down next to Bunny on his other side. Laying her head against his shoulder, she sighed. He smiled sadly to her.

"Let me guess," he commented. "Your roommate brought her business boyfriend there again."

"Yes," Tooth sighed. "And they were making out when I left. Who knows what they're doing now." Her nose scrunched up in disgust. "Last time I came back, the room smelled like all of these awful drugs."

A phone buzzing cut Tooth off. North picked up his cell, looking at it before smiling. "Ah, is friend Jamie!"

"Oh?" Bunny asked. "And what's up with him?"

North read before replying to the text, the replying to his friends, "Says he has good news he wishes to share."

After a minute, his phone buzzed again, and after reading the text, his eyes got wide.

"North?" Tooth asked. "What's wrong?"

He looked to his friends with wide eyes, fighting back tears.

"Jamie says ... Cops found lead for Jack."

* * *

"I know you're excited mate, but _bloody hell_, slow down before you kill us all!"

"Sorry," North blushed, tapping on his break pedal.

Tooth and Sandy sat quietly in the backseat, unsure of what to think of the situation. It was an hour drive to Burgess from their college, but it felt like so much longer to the group of friends. Their fifth member, Jack Frost, had been missing for a little over 3 years now. Everyone knew he was most likely taken by drug lord Pitch Black, but because no one could find Pitch, no one could find Jack. They could only imagine the horrors Jack had gone through in the past 3 years.

Even when the Burgess exit finally came into view, they all found it was still hard for them to breathe. They wanted Jack back so badly, and they didn't want this lead to just be nothing. They'd had enough disappointing leads from undedicated police officers grabbing at straws.

This detective, however, seemed really dedicated in finding and bringing Jack home safely. Detective Michael Bowers joined the police force right before Jack went missing. When he heard that Pitch might be involved, he immediately dedicated himself to the case. Jeremiah had eventually asked Michael what had him so committed: Michael had answered that he lost a sister to Pitch's father; he wasn't going to let us lose Jack.

The group finally made it to the police station where they saw the Bennett's van parked out front. They hurried themselves inside to the Bennett's side and waited for Detective Bowers to call them back. He eventually did, leading them to a private office, locking the door and closing blinds behind them.

"You know I don't want to get your hopes up over nothing," he started, sitting in his seat. "And I don't want to be grasping at straws, but I think this is a pretty solid lead. There's a CEO who was recently fired from a big business here in town. He confessed that he was stealing the company's money to buy drugs - and he confessed to buying from Pitch Black."

The entire group seemed to lighten up at the sound of that.

"He's agreed to go to a fake pickup with us," Michael continued. "He says the same person comes every time. Never talks, always wearing a cap. He's really pale, so he thinks it may be Jack."

"You mean," Annabelle frowned. "That Pitch is forcing Jack to be a part of his business?"

"Possibly," Michael answered. "Probably every drug he sells goes towards paying off Joshua's debt." He clasped his hands together. "We've already set up cameras in the alley, so you can watch from here, at the station. It's happening tomorrow night. If this works, Jack will be coming home."

Annabelle and Tooth broke down crying.


	12. Chapter 12

Seems the only time I could write is, of course, when I'm sick. This oughta be fun. Enjoy!

* * *

Jack walked into the room to see Joe messing through his stuff.

"What are you doing?"

Joe turned to look at Jack, smirking. He grabbed Jack's cap and placed it on his head. "I'm going as you tonight."

"What!"

"Boss's orders, man," Joe grabbed Jack's leather jacket and pulled it on. "Don't worry; the money will still go towards the debt."

"And why am I not going?" Jack cautiously walked to his bed as Joe prepared the bag of drugs.

"Because," Joe sighed, annoyed. Ever since he brought Jack to the hideout, he'd become Pitch's right-hand man. It made him an overconfident ass most of the time. "The idiot got himself caught and fired for stealing the money. Word is he confessed to using it to buy drugs from the Boss. That means that he might connect to who you are." He looked up at Jack with an evil smile. "Can't have you escaping, now can we?"

Jack's eyes narrowed. "I learned my lesson the first time."

He had tried running off after his first meet with a client, hoping to make it back to Burgess. But he had gotten lost in the unfamiliar woods, and Joe and Will soon caught up to him after finding out he didn't return. Once they had dragged him (kicking and screaming) back, they beat the hell out of him before Pitch got his turn. Jack couldn't move without feeling pain for two weeks, and he had a pretty bad concussion, leaving Joe to take care of him. That had been an awful two weeks. It made Jack shudder.

Joe only chuckled as Jack relived that memory. He tossed a backpack over his shoulder. "Well, I'm heading out. Don't have too much fun without me."

"Wasn't planning on it."

* * *

"Now remember, George." Michael handed a ear piece to the former CEO, who stood among the different police officers nervously. "Just cough if something is abnormal. We won't let anything bad happen to you; I promise. Now, recite what happens again."

George fit the piece into his ear while he spoke. "Jack's always there by the time I get there. He pulls out the drugs; I toss him the cash and he tosses me the drugs. And then we both leave."

"Ok, so here's what you're going to do," Michael said, messing with some controller. After a few seconds of hitting buttons, George heard a click in his ear, indicating the ear piece was on. "Pull out the money like normal. But then look down at it and ask yourself if you brought enough. That will be our cue to come in." Michael smiled to George. "I really appreciate you doing this for us."

"Hell, if I knew who he was sooner, I would've come straight to you," George promised. "If it threatened my job or not, I would've come. You make sure to let his momma know that."

"I will," Michael nodded. "You ready?"

"Ready."

"Good, let's go."

George quickly forced himself to act normal as he walked towards the familiar alley. He could hear the cops talking through the ear piece, which made it hard for him to relax. He walked into the alleyway and almost immediately his heart skipped a beat.

And he coughed.

"It's not Jack, is it?" He could hear Michael sighing through the ear piece. "Get in there; arrest that guy. Maybe we can convince him to tell us where Jack is."

"Get the money out, ya idiot," the man spoke. He sounded irritated. "I ain't got all night."

"Stall, George," Michael instructed him. "We got the police coming your way. Just stall. Do what we originally discussed."

"Let me just make sure I have all the money," George said, trying to speak as calmly as possible.

"Doesn't surprise me," the man chuckled, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms, now looking amused. "You went and got your stupid ass caught and fired. How'd you get caught?"

"Didn't cover up the money tracks well enough," George stumbled, a little embarrassed.

"And yet you're still coming back for more," the man laughed. "Absolutely pathetic."

"Hands up! You're under arrest!"

George sighed in relief.

* * *

"Remind me again why we're watching this interrogation," Bunny looked towards Michael, confused and a little annoyed.

"I just want to see if any of you know this kid before we interrogate him," Michael explained as they walked into the observation room. Bunny immediately jumped forward.

"It's him!"

"Who?" Michael asked.

"Is Joe," North explained. "He said he left Pitch's group to start over. Seemed really interested in Jack, too."

"He must've been the kidnapper," Michael sighed, writing something into a file. "Ok, you guys can watch in you want. Casey will be in here, too; he's my partner." Casey waved from his seat by a monitor. "See if you can remember anything else about Joe while I interrogate him. What's his full name?"

"Joseph Hanger," Tooth answer.

Michael nodded, scribbling that down before leaving the room. He went into the next room, and the friends watched with anticipation.

"Joseph Hanger, am I correct?"

Joe leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. His hair and clothes were tussled from resisting arrest. He looked extremely pissed. "What's it to you?"

Michael only sat in the chair the opposite side of the table from Joe and opened his file. "Ok, Joe, I'll get to the point. Where's Jackson Frost?"

Joe's eyes widened in shock. _That's right, ya gumby, _Bunny thought. _Just give up. You're caught. _

Joe shocked everyone when he started laughing.

"That's what this is about!" Joe held his stomach, still laughing. It made the four friends sick to their stomaches. "You're still trying to find the kid!"

"Where is he?" Michael asked sternly.

Joe stopped laughing and glared at Michael. "The Boss ain't letting him go until he pays off his Daddy's debt. But he'll never pay of that debt. Every time he does something the Boss doesn't like, he'll only add more money. One little slip up costs Jack $1,000. You can tell his family and friends they'll never see their precious boy ever again." Then he leaned back in his chair, smiling and crossing his arms once more.

Sandy heard sniffing and turned to see Tooth covering her mouth in pure horror. He took her free hand and she instantly dropped to her knees and hugged Sandy tightly. North and Bunny knelt down and joined them. The three boys let tears fall from their eyes. What were they going to do?

All they wanted was Jack back.


	13. Chapter 13

"I'm begging for something good, fellas," Michael stated as he walked into the room, clutching Jack's file in his hand. He'd spent the entire past day and a half interrogating Joe and trying to get Jack's friends to remember anything they could on Joe. But they had said Joe avoided them, so they knew nothing except what Jack told them. And even Jack had been kept in the dark about him. And Joe wasn't exactly up for talking either. The only thing he would say was how proud Pitch was of him for successfully kidnapping Jack.

"We've got something better than good, Mike," Casey smiled. "It's _great_."

Michael practically straightened up in anticipation. "Well?"

"Searched the backpack that was on him when we arrested him," Casey explained. "The idiot had a map that leads straight to where the hideout is. Even wrote hideout above the 'x'." This gave both men a chuckle. "I looked it up on our satellite. It's an old car warehouse in the Burgess Forest, north of town. Pitch and his gang have been hiding out there for the past four years!"

"And that's where he's most likely been keeping Jack for the past three!" Michael said excitedly. "Alright boys, get ready. We're going on a rescue mission!"

* * *

Jack jumped, being pulled from his light sleep when the door slammed against the wall from the force of someone pushing it open. He almost automatically froze. It was Pitch. And he looked pissed off.

"Get up!" Pitch yelled. "You and I are going on a field trip."

"What's going on?" Jack asked, quickly jumping up and pulling his shoes on.

"Joe got himself arrested," Pitch said, grabbing Jack's arm and pulling him out of the room and along the corridor. They dodged several gang members running around, hiding stuff. "The idiot mostly likely left his map out wide open. So we're all leaving. You will listen to only me and do whatever I say. Got it?"

"Got it," Jack said softly as Pitch pulled him into one of the many garages.

Pitch pulled out a gun and pushed Jack towards one of the vans. "You're driving. Get in."

Jack didn't protest. He knew two things for sure when Pitch pulled out his gun:

1\. He won't hesistate to shoot.

2\. He means business.

Jack had seen several gang members killed over the past few years because they pissed Pitch off. Even though Jack knew Pitch wouldn't shoot him (Pitch wanted him alive to get money), it still terrified him to say the least.

Will, another one of Pitch's men, jumped in with Pitch and Jack. Jack hurriedly turned the car on and sped off.

* * *

Michael was itching with anticipation as the vans pulled up to the old warehouse.

"It's too quiet, Michael," Casey told him. "You don't think they've left, do you?"

"If they have," Michael sighed. "We'll check for any clues. We can't give up now; Jack's counting on us."

Michael felt disappointment when the warhouse was searched and found completely empty of any living individuals.

"Alright!" he ordered. "Search the entire place top to bottom. I want papers, plans, files, videos, anything that could possibly lead us in Jack's direction."

"Well, I already found where they were keeping him," Casey said, poking his head out from a nearby door. "Come and look."

Michael walked into the room to see two plain twin beds in a pretty simple room. But one side showed a major clue: the wall surrounding the bed was covered in wallet photos of Jack's family and friends, obviously letting on that that bed was Jack's.

"And there's stuff here with Joe's name on it, so they must've been sharing this room together," Casey explained as Michael examined the pictures. "Proabably Pitch's orders." Silence filled the room as the two examined everything there was to look at. They could hear the other detectives and officers going up and down the hallways as they searched the warehouse for clues. Michael couldn't help but feel so angry that Pitch kept being able to stay one step ahead of them.

"Do you think he ever tried to escape?"

"Huh?" Michael asked, looking next to him to see Casey joining him in looking at the pictures.

"Do you think Jack ever tried to escape?" Casey asked.

Michael turned back to the pictures and thought for a moment. "I wouldn't doubt it. But I also doubt that he ever got very far."

"Mrs. Bennett and Ms. Fairie were pretty upset yesterday," Casey sighed as he began taking the pictures and carefully putting them individually into little evidence baggies.

"They were both hoping Jack could be coming home," Michael reminded him as he began searching the bed. "We need to get the scent dogs in here. Do we have anything untainted that's Jack's?"

"Yeah, at the station," Casey said. "I'll call Jeremy and get him on that right away. We need to go check out Pitch's office, too. See if there's anything helpful in there."

* * *

Michael sat down in Pitch's chair and sighed. Some other officers were still busy decoding all of the filing cabinets that Pitch kept _everything _in, so he was stuck just looking in the desk for now. He opened the top drawer and instantly he found a thick file of papers. He pulled it out, set it down, and opened it up.

"Whoa."

"What?"

"This file," Michael stated, flipping through all of the pages. "It's about Jack and his father. Pitch was certainly obsessed with the pair."

"Probably revenge," Casey suggested, coming next to Michael to look at the pages. "Look at that. Records of every transaction that either made. He left nothing out. He even has more recent pictures of Jack in here."

"That will help," Michael said, closing the folder and hanging it to Casey. "Put it with the other stuff. I'm gonna look through the rest of this desk. Hey, Josh, you good at cracking computer passwords?" Josh nodded. "See if you can break into this computer here. A man this young, you think he would have a laptop, not a desktop. We can probably thank Patrick for that."

Michael couldn't help but smile. Things finally seemed to be looking up. Maybe they would catch up after all.


End file.
